Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Tyler Boley" 
<tyler@...> wrote:
>
> and did you like what you saw, oh Silver Rag man?
> Tyler
> 

I'm actually not quite sure... I sort of like it. I also haven't run 
any measurements on it. I ended up with 2 or 3 packages and decided 
to use it for a project it seemed well suited for.

A quick visual comparison puts its blacks around the same as most of 
the current pack - perhpas a bit towards the higher end.

It is a very nice paper, very sharp and all the other things go 
pretty well for it (though it certainly isn't metamerism free as some 
seem to say - just has very slight metamerism - still in the 
unpleasant directions inkjets have rather than the less noticeable 
directions of darkroom prints).

Most of all, I found the surface "almost" too glossy. I compared it 
to some air dried FB prints (Ilford Galerie FB as well as a few 
others I couldn't identify now from what must be 12+ years ago 
now...) and it was just a touch glossier. I also found the surface 
quite a bit smoother and more regular than those papers (I don't have 
any current Ilford papers to compare it to) - again "almost" too 
regular or perfect - all of those old prints I looked at had slightly 
irregular surfaces and slight imperfections which seem to add up to 
giving a tiny bit of character. It's also very crisp

It is a nice paper to me, neutral to cool. I still like the silver 
rag a lot - it has a bit more character, but is quite warm by 
comparison - more like the Forte Polywarmtone FB Museum in Neutol WA 
I always liked in some way. 

I have a test package of the new Hahnemuehle paper from the factory 
to pick up when I can get down to the post office to compare it with, 
which should be interesting.

It is probably the paper that so far looks most like a traditional 
darkroom print but although I haven't seen any printer scratches, the 
surface is certainly on of the more delicate and quite easy to 
scratch in handling